(Final velocity could not be found because air resistance affected the acceleration. This made the acceleration not the same throughout the drop. Without a constant acceleration, we could not use the Big Four equations.)

For the Net Force we used the following equation:

Fnet = Mass x Aavg

For Acceleration we used the following equation:

Aavg = change in velocity / time,

(We had to average the acceleration because there was not a constant acceleration due to the parachute and air resistance.)

For Momentum we used the following equation:

Momentum = Mass x Velocity

Conclusion

We brought in several different materials to make several different designs. We knew that we needed a parachute to slow down the fall of the egg. To do this, we brought in some subway wrappers, hair nets, and a garbage bag. For the encasement that the egg would be traveling in, we brought in cardboard corners from a box and a plastic crate. We made our first parachute with two hair nets and two subway wrappers. This worked, but we felt is was two heavy and didn't do the job as well as we hoped. Our encasement was good because it took the force of the fall rather than the egg taking the force. Cotton balls were used to pad the egg within the encasement for optimal cushion and protection. We dropped the encasement with the first parachute and it worked, but we thought we could do better. We tried to drop the encasement by itself, but egg came out because it wasn't secured close. We dropped it again without a parachute, but the egg broke because it fell on its side. The first time it fell on one of the two corners which delivered the force more throughout the encasement. After noticing this, we deciding there needed to be some stability for the encasement when its falling. So we decided to make a parachute using the garbage bag. We used fishing line for the string and attached it to each of the four corners to make an even parachute. This turned out to be very efficient because the drop was very controlled due to the fact that the parachute could handle a larger volume of air because of its surface area. Because of this great stability and how the egg dropped straight down, we thought we could do without the top corner. In order to do this, we had to tape the egg in place so it wouldn't pop out. This lessened the mass by 60 grams and still had the same effect. We used the cardboard corners because they were lightweight and very sturdy which would cushioned the blow. We used cotton balls to fill the extra space between the egg and the cardboard to minimize the movement of the egg. The cotton balls were not very massive and gave a lot of resistance. The fishing line was very strong, yet lightweight so it worked very well. The plastic garbage bag was used because it could hold a lot of air and allow for great control through the drop. For the next time, we would try to find something less massive for the encasement to better our ratio.